Railway freight car truck safety device



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C. R. BUSCH RAILWAY FREIGHT CAR TRUCK SAFETY DEVICE mi N March 29, 1960 Filed June 24, 1954 Mmh 29, 1960 c. R. BUSCH 2,930,329

RAILWAY FREIGHT CAR TRUCK SAFETY nEvIcE Filed June 24, `1954 v :s sneetssheet 2 K Tllzv'dh 4 .43,

. l l MAWATTORNEYS March 29, 1960 c. R. BuscH 2,930,329

' RAILWAY FREIGHT cAR TRUCK SAFETY DEVICE s sneetsfsheet a Filed June 24, 1954 INVENT R C'Mqks A. usc/f v BYM ATTORNEYS United States Patent O RAILWAY FREIGHT CAR TRUCK SAFETY DEVICE Charles R. Busch, Orange, NJ., assignor to Buffalo Brake Beam Company, a corporation of New York Application June 24, 1954, Serial No. 439,006

Claims. (Cl. 10S-206) The present invention relates to railway freight car trucks and more particularly to the side frames therefor.

The conventional type of railway freight car truck comprises a bolster between two side frames having outside journal boxes for two pairs of car wheels and two brake beams between said frames adapted to be operated into and out of braking positions in relation to the two pairs of car wheels. One of the serious hazards in railroad operation is the breaking of the wheels or the burning out of the journals. When these failures occur, the truck side frame adjacent to the affected part drops to the road bed, often causing derailrnent not only of the car in distress, but those cars which follow.

One object of the present invention is to provide new and improved side frames for a car truck, designed with safety features by which upon default of a side frame, due for example to breakage of a wheel or failure of a wheel axle, the side frame is shored up against collapse onto the road bed and is guided for sliding movement along a rail, until the train can be brought to a safe stop.

- A truck side frame of conventional design is substantially in truss form and in one piece and comprises an upper compression member, a lower tension member, and strut members between said compression member and said tension member serving not only as structural truss parts of the side frame but also as bolster guide columns defining with said compression member and said tension member a bolster opening. The tension member has a horizontal middle section at the base of the bolster opening serving as a bolster spring support and side sections inclined upwardly and outwardly from the ends of said horizontal section'towards journal boxes Where the ends of the compression member and tension member merge. i

As a feature of the invention, an emergency skid shoe device is connected integrally to the horizontal section of the side frame tension member, as for example by casting therewith or by welding thereto. The middle section of the tension member has a lower wall, and the skid shoe device has a rim tread wall integrally connected to said lower wall and constituting substantially a continuation of said lower wall. As a result of this construction, the middle section of the tension member serves not only as the sole support for the skid shoe but serves also asv an extension of the skid shoe adding thereby to the effective width of the safety device and serving as an emergency support for the brokendown trucky in case the skid shoe should slide off the rail. The continuity between the rim tread wall of the skid shoe and the lower wall ofthe middle section of the tension member assures smooth transition as the disabled truck slides from rail support through said skid shoe to rail Vsupport through said lower wall.

With the construction as described little or no changes are necessary in, existing side frames, except for the provision of the skid shoeV devices, as described. Since the horizontal middle sections of the side frame tension 'ice members are structurally strong enough to carry out-their normal rigorous and shock sustaining duties, they will be sufficiently strong to serve effectively as supports for the skid shoe devices in case of emergency.

The emergency skid shoe device on the underside of Y each side frame has parts near opposite ends of the horizontal middle section of the side frame tension member, so that whichever end of the side frame collapses, in case of car truck failures described, will be shored up and slidably supported by a corresponding skid shoe part or by the middle section of the tension member until the train is stopped. These skid shoe parts may be spaced along the side frame to save weight while affording ample safety or may be joined together to form one continuous shoe. l

Various other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and from the accompanying drawings, in which:v

Fig. l is a top plan view of a railway car truck carrying the safety skid shoe features embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a partial side View of the car truck with safety skid shoe features embodying the present invention, taken on lines 2-2 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the car truck taken on lines 3-3 of Fig. 2, the full lines showing the car truck in normal operation and the dot and dash lines'showing the car truck after failure and with one safety skid shoe in ope-ration; Y

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of the car truck taken on lines 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the car truck taken on lines 5 5 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective of one of the safety skid shoes.

Referring to Fig. l of the drawings, there is shown a railway freight car truck comprising in general a pair l of side frames 10 into which are journalled the axles 1'1 of two sets of car wheels 12 adapted to ride on rails 13,. a bolster 14 extending between these side frames and spring supported therein in a manner to be described, 'a pair of brake beams 15 carrying brake shoes 16 for en]n gagement with the car wheels 12 in braking position, and a mechanism 17 for actuating the brake beams into and out of wheel braking positions.

Each of the brake beams 1S is shown comprising acambered compression member 20, a tensionmembex'. 21 bent in the form of a V :and connected at its ends to the ends ofthe compression member, a strut 22 between the apex of the tension member and the midsection of the compression member for maintaining tension in theV tension member and camber in the compressionv member, and brake heads 23 at the ends of -the brake beam carrying the brake shoes 16.

The mechanism 17 for operating the brake beams into and out of braking position is shown comprising a Vlive lever 2S pivoted at its lower end ony abrake beam.

strut 2.2, a dead lever 26 pivoted at its lower end onthe other brake beam strut22 and at its upper end to an adjusting link V2.7, a connecting rod 28 between these leversand `an voperating rod 30 connected to the upper end off.A the livelever 25 and actuated from an air or hand brake. device (not shown). ,y

Each of the side frames 16 is in one piece and preff erably of cast steel and comprises (Figs. 2 land 3") arr upper cambered compression member 35, a lower tensiony member 36 merging at its ends into thev ends of the compression member, journal boxes 37 for the wheel axles il at these merging ends, and upright struts 38 located between the compression member and the tension` mern-V berfand defining therewith a center bolster opening 40 and window openings 41 lianking said bolster opening.

The tension member 36 has a middle horizontal chord or section 42 below the bolster opening 40 and side sections 43 diverging upwardly from the ends of the middle section andinclined towards the ends of the compression member 35 where they merge therewith. This middle section 42 of the tension member 36 is of rectangular hollow box construction and comprises a lower or bottom wall 44, a top wall 45, an inboard wall 46 and an outboard wall 47. The bottom wall 44 and side walls 46 and 47 extend endwise in open channel forma tion to define the inclined side sections 43 of the tension member 36. A reinforcing web 48 extends between the upper and lower walls 44 and 45 at least along part of the length of the middle section 42 of the tension member 36.

To form an adequate base for the support of the bolster springs, the middle horizontal section 42 of the tension member 36 is widened by extending its top wall 45 along its inboard and outboard sides to form flanges 50 and 51. Reinforcing ribs 52 (two being shown) extend between and are connected integrally to the inboard flange 50 and inboard wall 46, and similar ribs 53` (two being shown) extend between and are connected integrally to the outboard ange 51 and the outboard wall 47.

The ends of the bolster 14 project through the bolster opening 40 in the side frame 10 and the sides of the struts 38 are provided with guide portions 55 for slide engagement with the sides of the bolster. These bolster ends are supported on springs 56 which rest in nests 57 in the horizontal middle section 42 of the tension member 36.

The car truck construction so far described is of conventional well-known form and per se constitutes no part of the present invention.

If a oar wheel 12 should break or an axle should burn out or otherwise fail, the end of the side frame adjacent to this wheel or axle, being unsupported, will drop onto the road bed. This might cause derailment of the car. To avoid this condition, there is provided in accordance with the present invention, a safety skid device 58 secured to each of the side frames 10 and adapted when the side frames fall because of failure of support to drop onto the adjacent rail 13. The safety device 58 f or. each side frame 10 is shown comprising a pair of similar parts 60 in the form of skid shoes integrally connected to the inboard side of the middle horizontal section 42 of the tension member 36 and located near opposlte ends thereof. The side frames 10 extend outwardly beyond the rails 13, so that the skid shoes 60 are posed directly over the rails in normal operating position of these side frames, as shown in Fig. 3. With this rail overhanging arrangement of the safety skid shoe device 58, when a side frame 10 drops due to a failure in one of its supports, the skid shoe or shoes 60 will drop onto the rail 13 directly below.

Each skid shoe 60 preferably has a rim tread wall 61 with a contour in the plane transverse to its correspondmg side frame 10 similar to the contour of the wheel tread 62 in a radial plane of the corresponding wheel 12, as shown in Fig. 3. For that purpose, this rim tread wall 61 is crowned and in a vertical plane slopes generally downward and in an inboard direction, when the side frame 10 is in mounted operative position, as shown in full lines in Fig. 3. One end of the rim tread wall 61 is integrally connected to the adjacent side of the lower wall 44 of the middle section 42 of the tension member 36 and is substantially at the same level as said lower wall to form a continuation of said lower wall. The lower wall 44 thereby serves as an auxiliary skid shoe in case the skid shoe device 58 should slide o the rail upon failure of the truck. When the side frame 10 drops due to some failure, as shown in dot and dash lines in Fig. 3, the skid shoe or shoes 60 will drop onto the 4 rail 13 below and, in this position, their rim tread walls 61 in contact with the rail will have a contour substantially coincident with the contour of the car wheel 12 on said rail before failure occurred.

Besides having a tread on the wall 61 similar to that of the car wheels, each skid shoe will have a lip extension 64 along its outer edge serving as a confining ange corresponding to the conventional flange 65 on the car wheels.

Each skid shoe 60 is shown comprising a rim 67 shaped to define the tread on the wall 61 and the lip 64 and connected integrally at one end to the inboard edge of the inboard wall 50 and at its other end to the lower edge of the inboard wall 46 and a web 68 integrally joining said rim to said flange and to said inboard wall. This skid shoe 60 so formed and so supported on the middle horizontal section 42 of the tension member 36 is strong enough and is supported strongly enough to sustain the car while it is skidding along a rail 13, until the car is brought to a safe stop.

When the truck side frame 10 is of cast construction, the safety skid shoes 60 are cast integrally therewith. However, where the truck side frame 10 is of built-up type made by welding sections together, the safety skid shoes 60 would be welded thereto.

Each safety skid shoe device 58 for each truck side frame 10 is shown consisting of two separate shoes 60 spaced along the middle horizontal section 42 of the tension member 36 and located near opposite ends of said side frame section in order to save weight and at the same time provide for ample safety. However, as yfar as certain aspects of the invention are concerned, the skid shoe device 58 may consist of a single continuous shoe extending substantially along the full length of the middle horizontal section 42 of the tension member 36 or may consist of three spaced shoes, two near opposite ends of said side frame section and one in the middle.

What is claimed is:

1. A side frame of truss form for a railway car truck, comprising an upper compression member, a lower rigid tension member having a middle section for supporting a bolster supporting spring and side sections inclined from the ends of said middle section towards the ends of the compression member and connected to the ends of said compression member, means near the opposite ends of the side frame for supporting the bearings of two car wheels located in the same general plane near to and on one side of the side frame with the axes of said bearings extending transverse to the side frame, struts extending uprightly between the ends of said middle section and said compression member and connecting at its ends to said tension member and said compression member to define with said middle section and said compression member a center opening to receive one end of a bolster, and a safety skid shoe device in tegrally connected to said middle section on said one side of the side frame and supported solely from said middle section, said shoe device jutting in a direction from said middle section of the tension member in position to extend substantially in the general plane of the wheels but above the lower sections of the wheels to overhang the wheel supporting rail adjacent to the side frame when the side frame is part of a car truck assembly and the car truck is supported on rails, said middle section having on the bottom a lower wall, and said safety shoe device having a rim tread wall integrally connected to said lower wall and constituting substantially a continuation of said lower wall.

2, A side frame as described in claim 1, wherein the middle section of the tension member is of hollow sub-` stantially rectangular form with a top wall above said lower wall and with an upright wall on the side of said middle section nearest to the general plane of the wheels,

said safety skid shoe device being integrally connected not only to said lower wall but also to said upright wall of the middle section.

3. A side frame as described in claim 2, wherein the top wall of the middle section of the tension member is extended away from said upright wall of the middle section and towards the general plane of the wheels to form a ange, and said safety skid shoe device is also integrally connected to saidflange.

4. A side frame as described in claim 1, wherein the middle section of the tension member is of hollow substantially rectangular form with a top wall above said lower wall and with an upright wall on the side of the middle section nearest to the general plane of the wheels, said top wall extending away from said upright wall and towards the general plane of the wheels to form a ange, and wherein said rim tread wall has a protruding lip on the side nearest the general plane of Vthe wheels and said skid shoe device has a wall integrally connected to said lip and extending from said lip to said flange to which the latter wall is integrally connected, said skid shoe device also having a web integrally joining the latter wall and said rim tread wall to said ange and to said upright wall.

5. A side frame as described in claim 1 for supporting the wheels which are flanged, wherein said safety skid shoe device comprises a pair of separate similar safety skid shoes spaced along the middle section of the tension member, each of said skid shoes having its rim tread wall corresponding in contour to the tread of the wheels on the truck and positioned on the side frame so that when the shoe rests on the adjacent rail for emergency support, the shoe tread will bear substantially the same relationship tothe rail as the treads on the car wheels bear to the rail before collapse of the side frame, each of said safety skid shoes having a lip extension along one edge forming a confining iange Y corresponding to the anges on the wheels. v Y

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 373,247 Newman Nov. 15, 1887 385,155 Walken June 26, 1888 388,168 Woodrui Aug. 21, 1888 431,057 Jenkins July 1, 1890 493,661 Spearing Mar. 21, 1893 493,662 Spearing Mar. 21, 1893 777,190 Edwards Dec. 13, 1904 873,795 Sanford Dec. 17, 1907 895,935 Andrew Aug. 11, 1908 936,825 Smith Oct. 12, 1909 1,134,410 Payne Apr. 6, 1915 1,452,529 vScheibli Apr. 24, 1923 1,626,610 Hornquist May 3, 1927 1,985,288 Hedgcock Dec. 25, 1934 2,322,599 Spenner June 27, 1943 2,413,433 Cottrell et al Dec. 31, 1946 2,709,970 Rossell June 7, 1955 2,744,473 Clasen May 8, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Nov, 3, 1904 

